Her
by werebunny131
Summary: She was his friend. His courage. His strength. A Partner's thoughts on a human turned Pokemon. PMD Time/Darkness/Sky


She was the kind of person who would eat a Grimy Food because she "didn't get poisoned", and then laugh at herself when it caused a little burn instead. Whenever that happened, he always made her say she wouldn't take that risk again. But she always did, so no one else would have to the next time they ran out of apples.

Besides, she had said, she always had him to put out any burns she might pick up.

They were, as Grovyle had put it, "the greatest of combinations", but it wasn't just how well their types matched up, or how they might coordinate attacks. Their personalities went well together. Where she was calm, and quiet, he was easily excited, and loud. She took things in stride; he was clumsy when it came to change. He had asked her about it once. How she could be so calm, when so many things were changing around them.

"When you wake up one morning as a Pokémon, instead of a human, everything else just seems kind of tame in comparison."

But she had adapted so well. Even getting used to walking on four legs instead of her usual two. He was glad of that. For right after waking up, she had helped him retrieve his greatest treasure. That Relic Fragment had meant so much to him back then. He had asked for her help. She had given it. Without hesitating for even an instant. As they had traveled through their very first Mystery Dungeon, he had been so happy. Finally, finally! He was a real explorer! And he wasn't alone, like he had always figured. He had a friend. And they had won. Beaten Zubat and Koffing in a snap. He had asked her to join him. To be a real exploration team. Maybe he had rushed a little. After all, he had only met her a few moments before. And she didn't even know who she was!

But she had agreed.

She had stood next to him on the footprint grate he had sweated over just before meeting her. She gave him the courage to stay still.

He tried his best to explain anything she needed to understand. Like the Mystery Dungeons. Or the bad Pokémon that were cropping up. He did his best to make her transition easy. She had told him before, that she hated having to ask someone else to explain something to her. Like how to eat with no real 'hands'. She said she had felt ashamed.

"Why? What did they say?"

"It wasn't what they said. It was that I had to ask them. I don't mind asking** you**. You always make me feel like…like anyone would ask that. It makes me feel normal."

Normal. She was anything but normal. A human turned Pokémon. Not to mention the Dimensional Scream. Not that is hadn't come in handy. It had. Quite often. But it was strange. None of them really knew how it worked. Other than that it needed a trusted partner to activate.

That was him.

As she had once put it, he was her "irrepressible, irreplaceable partner". He didn't know what he had done to get a partner like her. He was just…him. She was his courage. His strength.

"Before I met her, I was such a coward…"

And he had been. Inside, he still felt like a wimp. Like if she wasn't there, he would go back to what he had been when they had met. Scared of a voice in a grate. To afraid to go after his most prized possession.

And it was still prized! That Relic Fragment had been the key. The key to the Hidden Land. To Temporal Tower. To Dialga. To ever meeting her in the first place!

But then it took her away…

If he had known that she would leave…that she would disappear…would he have fought as hard as he had? Would he have endeavored as hard as he possibly could? He'd like to think he would've. That he would have put the world first.

He knew that was a lie.

She was…had been? **Was.** She **was** his best friend. He would have fought tooth and nail to keep her with him. To keep her home.

She would've fought.

She would've acted like her life, her very existence, wasn't on the line. That was her. That was who she was. Fight for the good of the world, no matter how hard it would be.

She hadn't wanted to leave.

He could tell in her eyes, in her voice, she was hurting inside. But she had been smiling. Smiling to try to keep his spirits strong; so he could get home. Get home and tell the story.

How many times had he told that story?

Tell the story. Make sure this never happens again. Let everybody know.

He had done that. Every so often someone new would come to town. Someone who hadn't heard the tale. They would be led to him, and he would tell it again. Even those that had heard it a hundred times before would sit in to listen. They said he was a good storyteller. The ones who had truly known her; they asked how he could do it. How could he tell the story of her when she was…gone?

"Because, when I tell the story, she's there."

She was there, listening. Filling in the gaps he had forgotten, or was too preoccupied to notice. Laughing when he told of Team Skull. The subtle frustration over the 'Perfect Apples Incident' was noticeable on her face. So was the loss. And the sorrow when he reached the point in the story he prefer never happened. "I'm sorry I had to leave." her face said. He knew.

Sometimes he would tell little bits of the story to himself. Even the painful ones. Let everyone know. Don't let them forget. He wouldn't let himself forget either. He would cry when he came to Grovyle's sacrifice. He would choke through Dusknoir's betrayal. But only alone. Only with her.

She was gone. He knew that. But no one who is remembered is ever really gone, right? He wasn't talking to her 'ghost' or hallucinating. Just remembering. No matter how much it hurt. Parting…

"Though the parting hurts…the rest is in your hands!" Grovyle…He wanted so much to be like Grovyle. To give all he could without flinching. Grovyle hadn't been a thief. He had been a hero.

"Parting hurts." She had said it with a smile. "But knowing you was worth _anything_!"

She was gone.

She had been gone for a long time. It felt longer than it truly was. But the facts were there. In the empty bed. In the silence when traveling through many a dungeon. In the story.

She was gone.

Why he had gone down to the beach, he didn't know. A change of pace maybe. Wake up, do a job, have dinner, go to sleep. The beach. So much had happened at that beach. He met her. He told Dusknoir all he had needed to know. He met her. He returned to the past. He met her.

The bubbles were beautiful. They were always beautiful. But a beautiful sight seen alone. It wasn't the same. Why hadn't he ever shown this view to her? When was the last time he had even seen it himself?

When he met her.

Something…broke. The floodgates he thought had been emptied were only closed. They weren't closed anymore. He had thought he was past the crying stage. He had been wrong.

She was gone.

She was gone. She was gone. She was gone she was gone she was gone. . GONEGONEGONE. His best friend! His ONLY friend! Why her?! Why did she have to go? Why did she have to leave!? It wasn't fair! They had saved the world! They had saved the world, and what did he get? LONELINESS! What did she get? NON-EXSISTANCE! All the people they had helped, either by saving their lives or by just finding their lost Peacha berry! Did it mean nothing?!

No.

Nothing.

At the end, he was alone. Again.

But the guild…the guild was there…but the guild wasn't _her_. The guild members were nothing. Nothing compared to her.

But…Bidoof. Bidoof was there. Holding him as he sobbed. Trying to help. Trying to understand. He had known her. He was a friend. Why would he think the guild members didn't matter? He just…he just…

He just wanted his friend back. He just wanted to stop turning over in the middle of the night and seeing an empty bed. He just didn't want to have anymore nightmares about her…leaving…

He just wanted things to go back to how they had been. Him, and her, and Grovyle, and the Guild. All of them, working toward a common cause. He wanted a _home_. A home with all his friends. But that wasn't going to happen. He best friend, his first friend, was…gone.

All this time, he had been crying into Bidoof's fur. He didn't even know what he was thinking anymore. Thoughts just poured out. So did the tears.

He didn't even notice when Bidoof gasped.

He did notice when Bidoof started tearing up. Also when he started pointing behind him.

He turned.

She was gone.

But she was back.

She was right there. The glowing balls of light that had stolen her, had given her back. She just…blinked. Like even she couldn't really believe it. He heard Bidoof say something about telling the guild, but little things like that seemed…unimportant.

She had been gone. But now she was back. She came and went like that, but she was unforgettable. She had transcended time, and space. She saved the world and rescued children and found lost items and just showed people around. She had defeated legends and solved ancient puzzles and seen sights not seen in decades, along with the past and the future.

But she laughed when she was happy, cried when she was sad, and tried her best to keep her friends and clients from getting hurt. She saw her visions, and shared them to try to get help for what she couldn't understand. Her stomach growled louder than Loudred and sometimes she snored when she slept too much on her bulb. She had made him brave.

She had been gone. But it's ok, now she was back. That's what she did. Because that was his friend. That was her.

"Squirtle?"

That was Risika.


End file.
